Ex parte Ng Doo Wong

Petitioner applied to enter the United States as the son of a citizen. He was born in China and is now 27 years of age. The immigration inspectors examining him and his ah leged father report favorably upon the testimony given by each and recommend his admission. The commissioner at San Francisco, however, denied admission, on the ground, as stated:

There are no discrepancies in the testimony offered by petitioner, but in the memorandum for the Acting Secretary, upon appeal, the fact is pointed out that according to the testimony petitioner’s father married and became such father when he was only 15 years of age, with the statement that this is possible, but not probable, even in China. The real reason, however, for the excluding decision, in my opinion, is found in the next paragraph :

If this means anything, it means that, no matter what the proof, a foreign-born son of a Chinese native will not be admitted to this country, notwithstanding his citizenship, unless he applies for admission during his minority or shortly thereafter. But the statute (section 1993, R. S. [Comp. St. 1913, § 3947]) is as follows:

To this statute the Department is adding by construction this proviso…